


hands up for a miracle

by screechfox



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 11:39:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12770286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screechfox/pseuds/screechfox
Summary: Sometimes, you need to make a deal with a demon. This is where Strife Solutions comes in.





	hands up for a miracle

**Author's Note:**

> this has been sitting in my googledocs for nearly a year, and it's time to come to terms with the fact that it'll never been the longfic i dreamt of, because i'm four for four when it comes to not finishing my longfics.
> 
> this part, though, felt like it could easily stand alone with a few tweaks. i'm sad to abandon it, but i hope this does the idea justice.
> 
> (title from 'lifetimes' by oh wonder, which otherwise has no relation to the fic.)

The thing is that nowadays, no one really bothers with summoning demons. It’s tacky at best, and foolish at worst. It’s much better to make an appointment with a _professional_ , to arrive at a sensible time, and to be escorted up to the demon’s office by a bunch of faceless bodyguards.

The demon’s surname is Strife. Parv is inordinately delighted by this fact.

The office is… cramped. It’s as large as Parv had expected, make no mistake, with a view of the city that he’d literally kill for, but there’s a surprising amount of _stuff_ in it - organised stuff, at that.

Parv is waved in, and, for the first time, he feels a wave of nervousness about the whole situation.

Strife, or Mr. Strife, or whatever, gestures for him to sit down. He looks surprisingly normal, really. It’s not that Parv was expecting red skin and horns-- oh, who is he kidding, he was _definitely_ expecting red skin and horns. But Strife just looks like your average businessman, except maybe slightly _more_ morally corrupt.

It’s quiet, for a moment, as Strife shuffles some papers, and then he looks at Parv, appraising.

“Mr. Parvis,” he says, and, oh, that is a _voice_. God, it’s like- like good wine, or chocolate, or a bunch of other metaphors that Parv never uses, and certainly not about _demons_. “I understand that you want me to solve a problem for you.”

“I-- Yes,” Parv says, getting over his shock. “I need to make a deal.”

For a moment, he thinks he sees Strife’s mouth curve in a smile, ever so slightly. Which is fair - a lot of people who make deals have reservations, from what Parv’s heard. Not many come so convinced as he has.

“Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place, Mr. Parvis. Here at Strife Solutions, we are fully equipped to solve _all_ your problems. From big, to small.”

Parv laughs, a little nervously. “Yeah, I’ve heard the spiel already, don’t worry.” His heart is going a mile a minute, and he really wishes it would, y’know, not.

There’s a pause, for a moment. Then Strife shuffles the papers again, and looks down.

“You applied for this deal under ‘Assistance - Personal’. Would you care to elaborate?”

Parv freezes, like a deer in headlights, then laughs again. “You didn’t read the rest?”

“Of course I did,” Strife says, like Parv’s an idiot. “I prefer to hear it from the mouth of the customer, though.”

Now that’d be a good dirty joke if Parv ever heard one, but he’s not exactly in the right situation. He looks away.

“It’s my friend, bandmate, whatever. He…” Parv takes a moment to pick his words carefully. “He’s gotten mixed up in some weird shit recently. He always said it’d be me who got into trouble with magic, but--”

Even though he’s pointedly not looking at Strife, Parv can still feel the impatience practically emanating from him.

“Right. Okay.” Parv takes a deep breath - this still isn’t any easier to think about. “He’s been missing for a week. Police didn’t do anything.”

Now he looks back. Strife seems considering, but not worried. He probably hears this story day after day, Parv thinks, a little wry.

“What was your friend’s name?”

“Uh, Sparkles*. With a silent asterisk.” Strife gives him a definite look of _what the fuck_ , which it’s nice to know isn’t species exclusive. Parv shrugs, glad to be on familiar territory, at least for a little bit. “Hey, that’s just what he told us to call him, and we did.”

Strife cocks a brow, but says nothing about it. He pauses for a moment, with that considering look again.

“Your _Sparkles*_ ,” he says, after a moment’s pause. “Was he human?”

“Is,” Parv corrects on instinct, and then shrugs again. “I dunno? I hadn’t really thought about it before. He never really seemed _inhuman_?”

Strife sighs, and mutters something - Parv is both thrilled at the break in composure and also terrified at the break in composure.

“What did you say he got involved with?”

“Magic. Technomancy, I think. Some group or project swept him up, and I’ve got no idea what.” He’s not ashamed to admit his voice shakes a little at the end. (He is a bit ashamed. He’s got street cred to live up to, after all.)

Strife tuts, but then he leans forward slightly - resting his chin on his hands.

“And what do you want for this… _Sparkles*_?”

Parv takes a deep breath, in and out, and then glowers, ever so slightly, out of the window.

“I want him to be _safe_. I want him to be not-missing, so we can just get back to our normal lives like nothing happened.”

A hint of a frown plays on Strife’s face.

“If you make this deal, that won’t be possible,” he says, with the first hint of an actual, non-demonic emotion that Parv’s heard from him. Parv feels equal measures annoyed and amused.

“Aren’t you meant to be convincing me that I _should_ make the deal?” He pauses, and then barges on before Strife can comment. “Because you’re not unconvincing me, anyway.”

Strife’s expression is unreadable, for a moment. Then he nods.

“If you’re sure. Now, Strife Solutions has several different payment plans for your perusal.”

Okay, it’s a mood whiplash, but Parv can’t help it. He laughs.

“Payment plans? I’m giving up my soul to eternal damnation, and you want to talk about _payment plans_?” He doesn’t earn much more than a rolling of eyes, but Strife seems ever-so-slightly amused. Maybe.

“Well, there are several options, for a man in your situation.”

Parv laughs again, but tries to get the sudden amusement out of his system. He nods, still grinning incorrigibly. “Okay, so, explain them.”

Strife does.

 

“It’ll be a few days before you see any results,” Strife says, as they finish up arranging the details. “My organisation will need time to find your man.”

Parv nods, even though it’s not going to be a pleasant few days. He’s impatient at the best of times, and this is definitely not the best of times. (Especially when Leo and Kogie are going to question him incessantly about where he's been and if he's okay.)

“And he’ll be safe?”

Strife gives him a significant look, leaning across the desk again. Parv reminds himself to ask if demons have a concept of personal space.

“He will be as safe as I can possibly make him.”

Parv nods again. Something inside him wilts with relief.

“Good. Thank you.”

Strife gives him a wide smile, but not a kind one, and Parv shivers slightly. “No. Thank _you_.”

Then he waves for Parv to stand up, and that is apparently that. Parv stands up, and there are the faceless bodyguards next to him again. Strife turns back to his papers, and Parv is escorted away.

“I’ll be seeing you,” he hears Strife say, voice carrying across the office, as the lift doors close.

Parv shivers again as the words reach him. Strife had turned out to be strikingly normal, but Parv hasn’t forgotten that he’s, well, a demon. He doubts Strife would want him to forget either.

 

 

( _Strife looks very out of place in the kind of venue that Area 11 plays in, and that helps Parv recognise the man who technically owns his soul. Or, will do, at any rate._

_Strife looks unamused._

_“You made a deal with a devil so that you could play rock music about anime .”_

_He sounds disgusted. But it’s the familiar sort of disgust. Parv bets Strife’s more disgusted with himself for noticing the anime references, than anything to do with the music._ )

**Author's Note:**

> (if anyone wants to read the incomplete rest, i could be persuaded to share it.)
> 
> as always, you can find me at screechfoxes on tumblr!
> 
> edit: i finally got around to posting the extra snippets of this [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17043611). a year late. oops.


End file.
